Security News > 2021 > October > US nuke sub plans leaked on SD card hidden in peanut butter sandwich, claims FBI

A court filing and announcement allege that a chap named Jonathan Toebbe, an employee of the Department of the Navy who served as a nuclear engineer, contacted entities that he believed represented a foreign power and offered to sell "Restricted Data concerning the design of a nuclear-powered warship".

An FBI legal attaché obtained a letter sent by Toebbe in April 2020 that included some US Navy documents and instructions on how to establish a secure channel between a foreign nation and Toebbe.

The FBI appears to have decided to string Toebbe along.

After some clandestine back and forth, plenty of encrypted email, and a payment of $10,000 in cryptocurrency, Toebbe and his wife Diana loaded the relevant info onto an SD card and left it at a dead drop.

The Toebbes were arrested and charged on October 9th. The accused pair used ProtonMail to communicate with their "Buyer" and used the pseudonym "Alice" in mails to their "Buyer".

The Toebbes liked the info Bob fed to them, especially when arrangements for dead drops were suggested, praising the care their buyer employed.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/10/11/doj_alleges_nuclear_sub_data_leak/